This painting is based on my experience as a Canadian born to immigrant parents, and depicts a personal journey marked with initial confusion, then understanding and ultimately embracing of a life with complex cultural and national characteristics. This piece is from my Diaspora body of work, which deals with the dispersion of people from their home country, with specific reference to my parents' escape from Estonia in the 1940's when the Soviets were invading, and their lives afterward.
The acrylic work employs flag colours from Estonia, the Canadian Red Ensign and Maple Leaf, and features a canvas in the shape of a stylized Canadian map. The intersecting semicircles represent waves of influence from two directions. Further visual interest comes from a rough surface texture that reflects light in unpredictable ways.